Last weekend's forecast left something to be desired but the climbing bug was biting hard so we had to try. Saturday Joe, Sam, Manfred and I tried to beat the rain by showing up to the Village early but to no avail. It rained, albeit lightly, all day. I hauled a (climbing) rack out to the cache though. After that we just kinda strolled around looking for new routes. During our scrambling, Sam spied a boulder hidden behind a tree that, with some aggressive trimming, would open up some fun routes. We spent about an hour building a nice base and removing the tree. Yup, we cut down a tree. Its not like it was a big one but size doesnt matter to some people. When MT, or even the Village, sees a shortage of Douglas Fir trees, Ill think twice about cutting them down but for now, I deem it ok. However, the routes that you open up have to be worth it and not contrived (I hope thats obvious).
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| The Three Amigos boulder in the Village |
Sunday Sam, Justin, Manfred and I went out to Pipestone hoping to dodge the rain. And dodge the rain we did! We played around in the Desert area, climbing some established routes and potentially opening up a couple newbies. We removed some shrubbery from a boulder proximal to the Bolted Boulder and had a blast climbing 6 new-to-us routes all on the same boulder. I dont think its in the guide but there is no way we were the first to check it out. Im sure we were the first to climb a couple of the routes due to (initial) inaccessibility. We then moved over to Sam, Lucas and I's boulders from 7(?)+- years ago. I sent the Potato Head boulder for my second time, and I flashed it! (Climbed it on first try) I know I have more attempts on that route than any other rock climbing route to date. Its tall, its sustained, its hard. Im not going to attempt to rate it because boulder ratings are absolutely the most inconsistent of all climbing. I have flashed V5s and been shut down on V1s. Bozeman needs a standard, like Diesel Driver in Gallatin Canyon. Sam and I also climbed a new-to-us and maybe completely new route on the Unmasked boulder. Still feeling strong somehow and with a beautiful patch of blue sky above us and nowhere else, we moved up to the Courtyard and sent a highball crack route called Cherry Blossom (?). Pretty awesome day considering we left Bozeman in the rain and didnt expect to get any climbing in.
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| We cleaned up the boulder on the far left of this pic. The Bolted boulder is the big boy on the right. |
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| This boulder is 50 yds from the car. Dont know what it is called, if its even named, but it has some good routes. |
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| Me climbing on the new-to-us boulder. |
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| The west side of the newbie (pics of me climbing this face). |
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| Sam on the North side of the newbie. |
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| We cut out a sage brush. Oh boy. |
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| The South side. Again, those are Sage Brush stumps. |
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| The Potato Head boulder. My problem goes right up the center of the face. Theres a warm up on the climber's left side. |
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| Unmasked boulder has a face problem and a climber's right side arete problem. |
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| Basset and beer. Oh yeah, and no rain. |
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| Potato Head, Unmasked and I forget the name of the left most one. |
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| Manfred always needs a pillow. |
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| Cherry Blossom crack in the Courtyard. |
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